HOW TO RUN IT AT 83

Marathoner draws crowd

His times are getting slower. He says he sometimes gets “very lazy.” He aches a lot after his training runs.

This particular marathon runner can be excused of all that.

On Sunday, a month before his 84th birthday, Kenneth Jones will be running — or “trotting,” as he describes his style — the London Marathon for the 37th straight year

He’ll be the one wearing tracksuit bottoms, a pair of old running shoes and a wide grin. He’ll be the one getting interviewed by the BBC on Tower Bridge during the race. He’ll be the one who still expects to be passing many runners in their 20s and 30s in the closing stages.

“At almost 84, to do 26 miles, it’s not bad, is it?” Jones says.

Jones is the oldest runner in this year’s race, at 83 years and 339 days. He is one of 12 people who have run every single London Marathon since the first in 1981.

So what is the secret to Jones’s longevity and enthusiasm? He puts it down to his love of the fresh air and nature, his long-standing passion for tai chi and his wife’s vegetable stews. In fact, Nora — who is 82 and has been married to Kenneth for 57 years — is his inspiration.

“Some days I get very lazy, so she encourages me,” Jones says in a phone interview. “She says, ‘You’ll never finish if you don’t get out there and train.’ Some days it can be grim, cold, not very nice, but she gets me out.”

On a usual week, Jones hits the country lanes near his home for two runs, getting plenty of wellwishes along the way. But the exercise regime has been ramped up ahead of the London Marathon, with Jones doing a long or short walk or run every day. He also swims twice a week.

“I don’t touch the sides or the bottom of the pool for an hour,” he said. “Just keep going.”